LionShark Digital Marketing Blog

Beating Your Competitors Online

4/29/2014

Competition is stiff out there! What you need is a solid game plan on how to win out against your competitors. Getting ahead of the crowd is much easier in planning than it is in practice, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it. Let’s break it into three parts:

Part 1: Dominate the SERPs
When it comes to digital marketing, the key to success is dominating the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). By taking up as much room as possible on the SERPs you are effectively boxing out your competition. The number of times your company can appear on the SERPs depends on how many channels you’re utilizing:

1. If your site is well optimized and you’re dedicated to putting out quality content that people enjoy interacting with and sharing, your site can appear highly in the organic rankings.
2. Adding PPC advertising means that you can also have your ads show up for relevant search terms along the top or right side.
3. Running Product Listing Ads (PLAs) means your products can also show up in shopping results at the top or in the middle of the page.
4. Having a mapped location on Google Places means that when someone searches for something local your company can appear on the map on the right when it’s displayed.
5. Maintaining social media pages provides additional opportunities for your company to show up in the search results.

Therefore, in an ideal world, if you’re active in all of these channels, potentially your site could come up 5+ times on the SERPs. That doesn’t leave much room for your competitors!

Part 2: Being Wherever Your Competitors Are
Sometimes your competitors may make bad decisions, so you shouldn’t simply copy their marketing plans and strategy entirely, but the odds are that if you can point to several industry leaders in a certain place, you should be there too. This actually holds true for online and offline! Places that your competitors are coming up frequently provide opportunities for your company to get noticed as well. And in terms of social platforms and forums/message boards, you want to be wherever your competitors are because you don’t want them dominating the conversation.

Part 3: Going Where Your Competitors Are Not
Places that are relevant to your industry where you don’t see your competitors are excellent opportunities for you to carve out a place for yourself before space becomes scarce. Before treading new ground though, always be sure to do your research and make sure that your target audience is there as well so that you don’t waste your time creating a presence where no one is looking.

If you can master all three parts of that approach, you can win online!
Winning means beating your competitors, but doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. Join an online marketing team that can help you win – team LionShark!

Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!

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Social Media – What It Is and What It Isn’t

4/24/2014

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What is social media? Odds are that if someone asked you that question you would say something like “It’s interacting with people online socially” or start naming off platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Yelp, Foursquare, Instagram, and Vine. And that's true. Social media is all of those things.

Social media is telling people on Facebook where you’re planning to go on vacation to get suggestions of what to do, it’s tweeting about something funny you just saw, it’s pinning a delicious looking recipe to try later, it’s watching the latest viral sensation on YouTube and then emailing the link to a coworker, it’s reviewing a local restaurant on Yelp because you want the world to know how awful it was, it’s checking into a concert venue on Foursquare so your friends know you’re there, it’s sharing a picture of your adorable baby on Instagram because words can’t describe how cute trying to eat a popsicle is, and it’s posting a quick video of your dog on Vine because you’re sure no one else’s dog tries to sit at the kitchen table. Social media is all of those things. As individuals that use social media we know that. So why is it that when businesses use social media they that forget that so quickly?

Most businesses these days are involved with some sort of social media, and some do it wonderfully, but some don’t! There are numerous cases of serious social media fails by businesses, but one that I will never forget is from many years ago. A business owner knew that social media buzz can influence SEO rankings so he wanted to do something to get people talking about his business. Unfortunately, instead of doing something great to wow customers and get them talking, he decided to stalk and threaten customers. People started talking about his site alright… talking to the police! The man was arrested, and when the police asked what he was doing he said it was part of his plan to improve his SEO. Obviously that’s an extreme case, but here are the most common mistakes businesses make with social media:

1. Self-Obsession
When engaging in social media as a business, obviously you want to talk about yourself some but if you only ever talk about your business and promote your own content, you’ll turn people off and lose followers. Promote other people’s content too – that’s the quickest way to make new contacts. Remember that social media is a two-way dialogue, not standing on a corner with a megaphone.

2. Selling, Selling, SELLING
Talking about your business all the time is already a mistake, but when it’s all sales copy, that’s even worse. Obviously you think your company is great, but that doesn’t mean every post has to be touting your company’s value propositions. Be authentic! Let your brand voice and persona resonate through your social media and make people want to pick you because of it.

3. Lack of Separation
Sometimes single-member companies or very small companies will end up using the owner’s personal social media accounts for business purposes or the business’s social media accounts to push their personal agendas. These are both huge mistakes! Not separating yourself from your business runs the risk of alienating would-be customers who might not agree with you personally. It can also open you up to legal liability. Keep your business account separate from your personal account.

4. Being Unprofessional
I’m sure every business owner has had a situation with a difficult customer, but social media is not the place to deal with that. There have been instances where business owners took to social media to complain about people they didn’t like, verbally attack people who have given them negative reviews, and even threaten people into paying them. This is completely inappropriate. As a business professional, if you have a bad experience with a client, vendor or partner, resolve it offline. Never take issues to social media because then you’re opening up a window for everyone else in your industry to get in the middle of it too, and discrediting yourself in the process. If a customer says something unfavorable about your business online, publically offer to resolve the issue and tell them to contact you by phone or email so that you don't have strangers seeing it (because once it’s online, it’s out there for good).

5. Forgetting About It
If you start a social media account, you need to keep it up because if you don’t it will just look like you don’t have much resolve or follow-through as a business.

Even if you decide to stop being active on a particular social media platform because no one is using it and it doesn’t seem to benefit your business in any way, don’t just abandon it. Post a message that says something like “A message to our followers: No one seems to be using this site to contact us, so we’re not going to be checking this regularly moving forward. If you want to get in touch with us, drop us a line <insert email address>. Thanks!” If you just don’t have the time to manage it, get someone else to do your social media management for you, or let people know on the site itself with a message like “Our order volume is very high so if you post here we may not get back to you right away. For a faster response call us at <insert number>.”

Need help with your social media? Let us manage it for you! Contact us today!

Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!

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The 5 Most Important AdWords Features You’re Not Using

4/22/2014

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Running your own PPC can be a daunting task, especially with all Google routinely adding and modifying features. With all of the available AdWords tools, reports, suggestions, dimensions, and more, how do you know what you should be using to help you out? These five AdWords features are incredibly helpful and also greatly underused:

1. Search Queries
Clicking on the “Details” drop down box while in your Keywords section will bring up the list of searches that were done to trigger your ads and bring people to your site. Going through search queries is a great way to come up with new keywords (and even ideas for new ad groups or campaigns), as well as identify words that should be used as negative keywords.

2. Compare To Date Ranges
The date range selector that lets you choose a custom date range or pick a common date range like last week, this month, last month, etc. also has an option for comparing dates. You can choose to compare dates like this month versus last month or this month versus this same month last year. Using the “Compare To” feature is a great way to look at changes in performance and can help you identify daily fluctuations and seasonal trends.

3. Change History
The change history tool in the Opportunities tab lets you see when you made which change. This is really helpful I you start to see changes in performance all of a sudden. Knowing which change corresponds with an increase or decrease in performance can help you fine tune your PPC efforts.

4. Impression Share
By customizing the columns of data that you see, you can view Impression Share (IS) metrics. Google lets you pick whether you want to see missed impression share due to budget (which means that your daily budget is causing your ads to get shut off and miss out on impressions) and due to ad rank (which means that you’re missing out on impressions because either your quality score is too low or your keyword bid is too low – or both). Impression share data can help you determine whether your bids and budget need to be adjusted, and how you’re stacking up against the rest of your industry.

5. Graphing Two Metrics
The graph that appears above your data columns shows just one metric by default, but you can choose to have it display two metrics so that you can analyze the relationship between the two. This is especially helpful for people that are more visual, because it allows you to actually illustrate the story that they numbers are telling.

Looking for an AdWords expert to manage your PPC? LionShark has you covered because PPC is our specialty! Find out why more small-to-medium sized businesses choose our digital marketing company!

Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!

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What The Heck Is Omni-Channel?

4/10/2014

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Whether or not you know it, you’re probably an omni-channel consumer. Have you ever gone into a store to look at a product and then pulled it up on your phone while you’re standing there to get more information or comparison shop on price? Have you ever made a purchase on your laptop or tablet while watching TV or listening to the radio? Those are common omni-channel situations!

Definition Please
Omni-channel is a newer marketing term that refers to the practice of consumers using multiple channels to make a purchase (and sometimes even multiple channels all at the time same). These channels (online, in-store, mobile, TV, radio, print ads, direct mail, etc.) work together to shape a brand’s image and help a consumer arrive at a purchase decision.

How Is This Different Than Before?
Previously, in the world of marketing, companies would have online strategies, in-store strategies, media-buying strategies, print strategies, and so forth – this was the age of “multi-channel.” In this old multi-channel approach each strategy was treated separately because there was very little overlap and the way consumers interacted with each channel was very different than every other channel.

But in the world of omni-channel marketing there’s a need for a seamless customer experience because a connected customer can easily be using multiple channels at once. Consistency across channels creates a stronger brand image with omni-channel consumers and helps to encourage their purchases by showing them what they can expect at each touch-point with your brand.

Why Does This Matter To My Business?
Studies have shown that omni-channel consumers spend significantly more than single channel consumers. Interested now? Read on!

Key Takeaways
• Mobile Isn’t Optional Anymore
A lot of times small businesses tend to view having a mobile-optimized site as unnecessary, while other small businesses may understand the benefit of having a mobile-friendly site, but put it in the bucket of optional expenses of time and money. With the rise of omni-channel consumers, mobile is no longer optional. Having a mobile site is critical to ensure that you can provide a good user experience for the large number of people that browse and shop on mobile devices (including smart phones and tablets).

• Your Sales Process Needs to Change
Omni-channel consumers are often more knowledgeable consumers because they have done their research ahead of time. This means that when a consumer comes into your store or lands on your site the traditional sales process may not be as effective on them as it once was. This is especially true for more technical products. In the past, providing a description of a product and the technical specs was basically all you needed to provide to make the sale. Now, however, consumers can find that information from the manufacturer in a flash; what they really want from your site or your in-store sales staff is what other people think of the product, an indication of whether it will work for their needs, a comparison of it to other similar products that you offer, etc.

• Awareness Is Critical
Because omni-channel consumers are using more than one platform, it’s critical that your marketing teams (or third-party providers) be on the same page in terms of strategy and messaging. And it’s just as critical that all of your staff are aware of what’s going on as well. There’s nothing that can kill a sale faster with an omni-channel consumer than running into a discrepancy between pricing or information from one channel to another.

• You Need to Be Everywhere
Because you can’t be sure which combination of channels an omni-channel consumer will use, you kind of have to be everywhere. I know, that can be overwhelming for small businesses, but what that really means is that you have to be on social media, and you have to have a professional website, and you have to provide a functional mobile experience. When you’re just getting started, follow that old adage… “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”

Need great omni-channel content? Want help with your online marketing efforts? Just need someone to tell you if your site could be improved? We’re an online marketing agency that’s here for just those types of situations!

Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!

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Why You Need Google Analytics… Now!

4/8/2014

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If you’re not familiar with Google Analytics, it’s a free analytics program that Google offers for anyone with a website. You can install the code on ecommerce sites, business pages, blogs, and more. (In fact, utilizing Google Analytics is so important for business owners that many online marketing agencies actually require that clients have Google Analytics code installed on their sites.) The great part about Google Analytics is that it contains not only a breadth of information, but incredible depth of information as well. Simply put, Google Analytics can tell you who came to your site when, from where, and what they did when they got there.

These are some of the types of questions Google Analytics can answer for you:
• How are people getting to my site?
• What’s my most popular page?
• How long does the average person stay on my site?
• Where are most of my site’s visitors located?
• What’s my conversion rate?
• What are my most popular products?
• Which buttons on my site are clicked on most frequently?
• Is my site loading fast enough?
• How much traffic is on my site right now?
And that’s just the beginning!

If you’re new to Google Analytics, here’s a brief overview of some of the most popular features. Once you go to www.google.com/analytics and sign up you will be taken to the Admin area, which is where you can set the preferences for your account. It’s important that your Google Analytics account be set up correctly and the code properly added to your site so that you can ensure that the data Google is collecting about your site is accurate. Once you’ve done that and data has been collected in your Google Analytics account you’ll want to click on the button that says “Reports” at the top. Once you’re in the reports section there are five main areas:

1. Real-Time
The real-time report is a really amazing feature that actually lets you view what is happening on your site at any given time. You can see how many people are on your site currently, what pages they’re on, etc. This is great for testing your code to make sure it’s working (because you can install your code and then visit your own site and if it’s working the real-time report will show a visitor on whatever page you’re viewing), and is just also really fun to look at from time to time.

2. Audience
The audience report shows you demographics information so you have a sense of who is visiting your site (age and gender), where they’re located, and whether they’re a new user or returning user. You can even a get as specific as even finding out which browser they’re using and what type of device they’re on when they visit your site. This is helpful because it can help you prioritize efforts when it comes to web design. If, for instance, most of your traffic is using Internet Explorer, you want to make sure your site is rendering properly in that browser. And if you have a significant amount of mobile traffic, you’ll need to make sure that your site is mobile friendly.

3. Acquisition
The acquisition report is probably where you’ll spend the bulk of your time (especially if you’re running PPC). It will give you an overview of your traffic data and let you know where your traffic is coming from as well as which traffic source brought in the most new visitors, which led to the most conversions, etc. In here you can also view what people searched for to find your site, which is hugely important from an SEO perspective because then you can get an idea of which keywords are working for your business. There is also an entire sub-section devoted to Google AdWords, where your PPC data is pulled in so that you don’t have to go back and forth to different areas to view all of your data, which is a huge time saver.

4. Behavior
The behavior report will show you which of your pages are the most popular, and how visitors move through your site. Understanding the visitor flow on your site is more of an advanced aspect of data to examine, but it can help you identify conversion paths and figure out if you need to make any changes to how you’re directing traffic on the site.

5. Conversions
The conversions section is probably the most important section for ecommerce business owners. This area tells you how many sales you made (and all of the related information of conversion rate, time to purchase, top sellers, etc.) and also how many of your goals you accomplished. The goals section is helpful for both ecommerce and non-commerce websites alike because you can set up and track goals like newsletter/email sign-ups, view of key pages (like Contact Us pages), and more. This is very important information to have for all aspects of your business.

Hopefully you have a better idea of how Google Analytics can help you make better business decisions regarding your website. If you have any questions, please let us know. We’d be happy to assist you with your digital marketing!

Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!

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Beating Your Competitors Online

Social Media – What It Is and What It Isn’t

The 5 Most Important AdWords Features You’re Not Using

What The Heck Is Omni-Channel?

Why You Need Google Analytics… Now!

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